Like other volumes in the "Spearhead" series, this book takes readers to the cutting edge of warfare - for a close-up look at the make-up, operations and performance of a military unit operating independently and forcefully at the forefront of battle. With a focus on the aspects of war that most narrative histories omit - logistics, and supply lines, communications, battlefield terrain, and command and control - this book offers an unparalleled view of the experience of the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam.Simon Dunstan provides a history of the unit, the theatre, and the situation. He moves with the Marines from home base to the battlefield, where readers get a clear picture of the unit's organization and the order of battle from the beginning of America's involvement in the Vietnam war to the division's departure form Vietnam in 1972. Copiously illustrated with photographs ( both tactical and individual), this book covers every aspect of this unit's role in the war, from training and strategic planning to engineering and execution. It is an unusually detailed account of the real nuts and bolts behind the drama of 1st marine Division in Vietnam.